Means for flanging the edge of a round opening



.March 12, -1940. M fwms; 2,193,050

MEANS FOR FIJANGING THE EDGE O1 A `RUND OPENING Filed June 18, 1937' iii Patented Mar. 12, 1940 MEANs Foa FLANGING THE EDGE or A noUNn oPENING Matthus Wiest, Enswarden i. 0., Germany, assignor to L. Schuler A. G., Goppingen, Germany Application June 1s, 1037, serial No. 148,900 In Germany April 4, 1935 8 Claims.

An application was illed in Germany'on the` A 4th April, 1935 (patent not yet granted).

This invention relates to .improvements in means for flanging the edge of a round opening 5 in a sheet, metal blank in which the edg'e of the metal sheet is clamped on a work table by means of a movable clamping member is pressed, by a rotating flanging tool introduced in axial' direction into the opening, against an exchangeable l0 flanging ring formed by said clamping device, and the inner diameter of which corresponds to the outer diameter of the flange to be raised from the material. The clamping device performs two functions, namely, firstly clamping the workpiece and secondly acting as an abutment for the ange to be raised. In order to centre or position the workpiece with 'regard to the tool, a centering device is provided, which is caused to enter the pre-formed openings in the workpiece and move the workpiece into the required position relatively to the tool before the latter is operated.

For iianging the edge of a circular opening in metal sheet material, forging, pressing and drawing methods have been in use. The two rst mentioned f operations, namely flanging by forging or,l pressing have hitherto been carried out manually by skilled workmen. These operations were comparatively expensive and involved a considerable amount of time. Flangingby drawing can be-carried out within a much shorter time, butcomparatively expensive tool sets have to be employed, and as a rule, a separate set is required for every diameter of the opening.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel construction of the centering device which cooperates with a known fianging tool. The centering device which maybe u sed independently is', according to the invention, resiliently mounted in the clamping device so that it is moved during 40 the clamping operation into the opening of the workpiece, and is then gradually moved from the opening from the initial centering position by the Hanging head.

In aknown flanging device, the workpiece is centered by a centering pin rigidly mounted in the tool, and a combined tool is used which iirst cuts a circular opening in a disc blank and subsequently raises the edge portion of the opening. In this known device, the workpiece is only incompletely clamped at two points. By the use of the present invention, the raising of the edge v is eiIected in a very etlicient manner and without any waste within the sho est possible time owing to the fact that the workpiece is clamped along an annular surface very n rmly and without any possibility of creasing or bending the workpiece. This annular clamping of the workpiece i's pal'- ticularly important with very light or thin sheet metal and renders it possible to form in light sheet metal circular holes and ange the edges B of these holes, whereby the stiffness and resistance of the material is considerably increased.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved flanging head comprising a plate having spiral slots therein, a second plate having l0 radial slots therein and rotatable relatively to the rst plate and vertical anging rollers rotatably mounted on bolts insertable into the crossing points between the spiral and radial slots. By relative rotation between the plates,l the angu ing rollers may be moved relatively to one another to adjust them to the diameter of the particular opening to be anged and, by tightening the bolts in the slots, the plates are fixed in the adjusted position. n

It is known in connection with combined punching and bending tools, to mount the pressing members by means of co-operating radial and spiral slots. This known arrangement, however, is used for moving the pressing members iirmly towards the center of the workpiece, whilst` the tool stands still. It will thus be seen that the known arrangement is used for a different purpose in the present invention.

'I'he accompanying drawing shows, by way of u example, one construction of a flanging means embodying the invention.

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of the complete anging device including its drive,

Fig. 2 shows in sectional elevation one half of u' the iiauging device proper, and

Fig. 3 shows the hanging head, not including the iianging rollers.

Figs. 2 and 3 are drawn to a larger scale than Fig. 1.

The workpiece a having a circular opening rests upon a table b having a corresponding but slightly larger opening. In an annular recess of the table lies a bearing ring c. Above the ring c is located A a anging ring d provided with a ring e. which latter serves both as a anging ring proper and forV clamping the workpiece a. 'I'he anging ring d is mounted upon a spindle g which latter is operated by means of a hand wheel f. The spindle g is provided with a screw-thread and l0 engages a threaded socket formed in a yokeshaped portion h ofthe machine frame extending above the work-table b. On turning the hand-wheel f, the spindle g is screwed into or out of the socket h, whereby the ilanging. ring d Il is raised from, or lowered towards, the workpiece a. Within the fianging ring d is resiliently mounted a centering plate i, said plate being in the construction shown suspended from the ring by means of helical springs, the said ring having a depending pin d' on which the plate l i can slide vertically. With this construction the flanging ring d and the centering plate i are rotated with the spindle g and on contacting the work-piece may impart a partial rotation to the latter; although this does not in any way affect the actual flanging operation, it is to be understood that if desired, the construction may be in known manner suitably modified, so that the spindle y and the parts carried thereby do not partake in the rotation of the hand-wheel f. The

centering plate has a conical surface which centers the workpiece a. k indicates a anging head carried by a rotatable shaft m which latter is driven by'means of a pair of bevels p, Q, a shaft o and a belt pulley 11.. 'Ihe shaft m is longitudinally movable in the bevel q. The flanging head k comprises two plates t and u, the plate t having radial slots r and the plate u having cooperating spiral slots s. The anging rollers v are freely rotatably mounted on vertical bolts I passing through the two slots, which bolts I are each formed with a flange or collar 2 at the upper end thereof to prevent the sliding off of the rollers v, and are screw-threaded .at their lower end for the purpose of enabling a securing nut 3 tobe screwed on to the portion protruding through the underside of the slots r and s. After the two plates have been adjusted for the required opening by moving one of the plates relatively to the other, the said bolts are tightened whereby the said plates are iixed in the adjusted position. l

The shaft m is supported in the bearing I I and carries through the interposition of a ball bearing a muff w which is longitudinally slidable with, but does not take part in the rotation of, the shaft m. The said mui w has inclined teeth :c co-operating with corresponding teeth of a swingable but axially immovable muff-y resting on the bearing II. The rotation of the muff w is prevented by a pin II) xed to the said muff ,and engaging a hole inthe said bearing II. `To enable the device to be used for anging the edges of openings. of various diameters, the rings c, d and e are exchangeable. The inner diameter of these nngs always corresponds to the outer diameter of the flange to be produced.

Z is a hand lever connected to the mul y by means of which the latter can be swung for the purpose of raising the muff w, with the shaft m as hereinafter referred to.

The operation of the apparatus ls as follows:

After the workpiece a has been placed upon the work table b, the flanging ring d is lowered into the Work table b by turning the hand wheel f. During this operation, the centering plate i enters the opening in the workpiece a and centers the workpiece. 'Ihe ring e subsequently comes into contact with the workpiece a and clampsthe latter against the work table b. The muff y is then swung by means of the lever z thereby raisv ing the anging head k. The flanging. rollers v come into contact with the edge of the 'workpiece a which up to that moment was bearing against the conical surface of the centering plate i and gradually raise the edge portion during the further' upward movement of the anging head k. At the same time, the centering plate i is forced by the anging head k upward from the opening in the workpiece.

When it is desired to adjust the relative position of rollers v, the nuts 3 are loosened, the two plates t and u are turned relatively to one another, so that the bolts I, and the rollers v carried thereby, approach, or move away from, the axis of the flanging head k. When the correct position has been attained the securing nuts 3 are again tightened on the bolts to retain the plates t and u and thus the bolts I in this position.

A number of advantages are attained by the use of the improved anging means in accordance with the invention.

Firstly owing to the fact that the anging ring serves both for flanging and for clamping the workpiece, a separate clamping device for holding the workpiece in co-operation with the work table b is entirely dispensed with. The combination of the centering device with the movablemember of the clamping device, avoids the necessity for a separate working operation for centering the workpiece and consequently saves a considerable amount of time, inasmuch as the movement of the movable part of the clamping device required for clamping the workpiece is utilised for simultaneously introducing the centering device into the workpiece and for centering the latter. The resilient mounting of the centering device enables the anging head to enter the workpiece without hindrance. v

Secondly a simplied construction is obtained inasmuch as it is possible to employ the same fianging tool for openings of various diameters by merely exchanging the exchangeable portions of the clamping device and adjusting the ilanging rollers in the flanging head to correspond to the different diameters. It is therefore not necessary to employ a set of tools for each diameter of openpressure or forging. In order to flange the'edge ,g

of an opening by the usual pressing process, three working operations are required together with two intermediate heatings, whilst by the use of the improved fianging means only two working operations and one intermediate hezaltingI are needed.` With the ordinary pressing process about twenty minutes are required for doing the same work which can be carried out by means of the present invention in twenty seconds, the employment of unskilled operators only being necessary.

It will be understood that the improved flanging means may be used for the formation of practically any kind of flange, such as Z-shaped flanging in which the anges have an irregular surface comprising surface portions intersecting at right or obtuse angles, as the .shape of the flange depends only on the shape of the Aiianging rollers and the ring mounted inthe movable clamping device. .V

I claim:

1. Means for flanging a circular opening in a sheet metal blank comprising in combination: a clamping table'having a circular opening; a movable clamping member co-operating with said clamping table and likewise having a circular opening; a centering device resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member and a rotatable and axially movable anging head provided with anging rollers, said centering device beingA so constructed and mounted in said clamping member that upon movement of the movable clamping member towards the clamping table,

said centering device enters first the circular opening in the blank and centers the blank, whereupon the clamping member clamps the blank against the clamping table. said flanging head being so constructed that on movement towards land into the blank, it will lift the centering member from the blank, said movable clamping member having a surface adapted to act during the ilanging operation as an abutment cooperating with the anging rollers.

2. Means for anging a circular opening ina sheet metal' blank comprising in combination: a clamping table having a circular opening and an exchangeable bearing ring; a movable clamping member having an exchangeable anging ring the lower surface of which co-operates with the exchangeable ring of the clamping table for clamping the workpiece, the inner side of said exchangeable clamping ring serving as an abutment against which the ange is pressed; a centering member having a conical centering surface resiliently mounted in said clamping member and so located that on moving the movable clamping member towards the clamping table said centering member will first center the workpiece ybefore the clamping member clamps the workpiece against the clamping table, and a flanging head comprising rotatable flanging rollers, so constructed that upon movement of the flanging head into the blank, said anging head will move said centering device out of contact with the workpiece and subsequently form the ange by pressing the edge of the workpiece against the side of the exchangeable ring of said movable clamping member. l

3. Means for anging a circular opening in a sheet metal blankcomprising in combination: a clamping table; a movable clamping member co-operating with said clamping table for clamping the workpiece, both said clamping table and Said movable clamping member having circular openings of the same diameter; a centering member resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member, said centering member coming during movement of the movable vclamping member towards the clamping table into contact with the workpiece and centering the latter before the two clamping members grip the workpiece; and a ilanging head comprising two plates, one plate having radial slots and the other plate having spiral slots, said plates being relatively turnable with regard to each other; and flanging rollers mounted upon vertical bolts inserted into the points of crossing of corresponding radial and spiral slots of the plates.

4. Means for anging the circular opening in a sheet metal blank comprising in combination: a stationary clamping table having an exchangeable bearing ring; a movable clamping member co-operating with said clamping table for clamping the workpiece and having an exchangeable flanging ring the lower surface of which clamps the workpiece and the inner side of which serves as an abutment during the flanging operation; a centering member resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member for centering the workpiece; a anging head having anging rollers; and means for moving said movable clamping member towards the clamping table comprising a stationary frame member; a spindle mounted therein and carrying said movable clamping member and a hand wheel by the rotation of which said spindle and clamping member j are moved up and down.

5. Means for anging the circular opening in a sheet metal blank comprising in combination: a clamping table having a circular opening and an exchangeable bearing ring around said opening; a clamping member for clamping in cooperation with said clamping table a blank, said movable clamping member having an exchangeable flanging ring the lower surface of which ,serves for clamping the workpiece and the inner side of which serves as an abutment during the flanging operation; a conical centering disc sus- Dended by means of springs from said clamping member; means for moving said movable clamping member towards the clamping table comprising a spindle and a hand wheel for moving said spindle up and d own; a rotatable anging head comprising a plate having spiral slots, a second plate rotatable relatively to the iirst mentioned plate and having radial slots; and rotatable flanging rollers mounted upon bolts inserted into the crossing points between said slots; and means for raising said flanging head into the Opening of the blank, said centering member being so located with regard to said movable clamping member and said clamping head that upon downward movement of said clamping member, Said centering member will enter the opening in the blank and centre the blank before the latter is gripped between the movable clamping member and the clamping table, and that upon up- Ward movement of the anging head into the opening of the blank, said centering member will be raised by the ilanging rollers out of contact with the workpiece.

6. In means for flanging the edge of a round opening in a sheet metal blank of the kind referred to, including a clamping table; a movable clamping member for the blank cooperating with said table; and a movable flanging head associated therewith, the provision of: a centering device resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member, said centering device being so constructed and located that, on movement of said clamping member in a blank-clamping direction, said centering device is also moved into the opening in said lblank to centre the blank and said flanging head being so constructed that on subsequent movement thereof to form the' ving device having a conical centering surface,

said centering device being resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member, said centering device being so constructed and located that, on movement of said clamping member in a blank-clamping direction, said centering device is also moved 'into the opening in said blank to centre the blank and said flanging head being so constructed that on subsequent movement thereof to form the flange, said centering device is moved from the initial centering position by said Hanging head.

8. In means for fiangng the edge of a round opening in a sheet metal blank, of the kind referred to, including a clamping table and a movable clamping member for the blank `co-operating With said table, the sub-combination of: a centering device resiliently mounted in said movable clamping member and a movable anging head associated therewith, said flanging head comprisdevice is moved into the opening in said blank to centre the latter, and said anging head being so constructed that on movement thereof towards the blank said centering device is moved with respect to said clamping member out oi' the initial centering position.

MA'I'IHUS WIEST. 

